Community College Completion Across the Spectrum of Age: Identifying Age-Related Differences in Predictors of Completion

• In Event: 28.043 - Adult Student Success in Higher Education

Abstract

Nearly half of students in community colleges are age 24 or older, yet little is known about how the factors that influence college completion differ between older and younger students. Using a multilevel statistical approach to analyze system-level data on community college students in Ohio, drawn from the Ohio Longitudinal Data Archive (OLDA), we use multilevel statistical models to examine how associations between outcomes and first-year experiences, peer group characteristics, and institutional characteristics differ between older and younger students. We consider a range of short- and long-term educational outcomes. We find a number of significant differences between older and younger students in the relationships between predictors and outcomes, indicating directions for further careful investigation.

Authors

• Peter Riley Bahr, University of Michigan

• Paula Clasing-Manquian, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

• Claire Boeck, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

• Yiran Chen, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

• Phyllis A. Cummins, Miami University